Bodh Gaya blasts: Three-four persons may be involved, says Shinde

NSG and NIA experts collecting samples at Mahabodhi Mahavihara in Bodh Gaya a day after serial blasts in the temple. (PTI Photo)

Three to four persons "with a car" may be involved in the serial blasts in the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya and its famed Mahabodhi temple, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Wednesday.

"Nothing can be said with finality," Shinde, however, added. His remarks came barely hours it emerged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) might announce a reward for information that would lead to the bombers.

"They must have kept (bombs) at night. We are conducting complete investigations," Shinde said about the 10 blasts on Sunday - between 5.30 and 5.58am - that rattled Bodh Gaya, about 140 km southwest of capital Patna.

Though the government has termed the blasts a terror attack, Shinde said no angles were ruled out. "The issue is complex. It could have been carried out by anyone - terror groups, Maoists. There are other issues such as communal disturbances."

Shinde, who visited Bodh Gaya with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said the Centre would also examine demands to give Central Industrial Security Force cover to prominent religious places. "CISF security has not yet been granted for religious sites. If we accede to this request, there will be other such requests."